Saving Brinton: The World Premiere

Saving Brinton is a documentary that will have its world premiere at the AFI DOCS film festival on June 17, 2017. The film recounts the discovery by retired history teacher Mike Zahs of some of the earliest films ever made that were shown in small communities by William Franklin Brinton, the "barnstorming movie man" who toured Iowa, Texas, and the Midwest from around 1895 to 1910.

Zahs acquired some 35,000 feet of footage at an auction in 1981, and only thereafter realized the rarity of his acquisitions, which include works by such production companies as Edison, Méliés, Lumiere, and Pathé. Zahs eventually enlisted the help of staff at the Library of Congress and the University of Iowa to preserve and digitize what in some cases was the only known surviving copy of a film title. Saving Brinton was directed by Tommy Haines and Andrew Sherburne, and further information can be found at the documentary's website.

Bob Dylan's Nobel Lecture in Literature

Awarded the 2016 Nobel Prize in Literature, Bob Dylan recorded his Nobel Lecture, with piano accompaniment, on June 4, 2017 in Los Angeles. He emphasizes the role literature has played in his music, and describes in particular the influence of three classic works: Moby-Dick, or, The Whale; All Quiet on the Western Front; and The Odyssey. A full transcript of the Lecture is available on the Nobel Prize website.